Water Management: Past and Future Adaptations
Institute of International Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar
The interdisciplinary faculty seminar series, Water Management: Past and Future Adaptation, is presented under the auspices of the UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies. As both the developed and developing world confront intensifying demands on rivers and other water resources, impacts are evident from extractions of water for human uses, proliferation of dams, mining sediments from river beds, and intensified land-use impacts, all exacerbated by climate change. Accelerated erosion of coasts and deltas (e.g., from sediment starvation, groundwater pumping, accelerated sea-level rise) are among the manifestations of these impacts. Our seminar takes an interdisciplinary approach these challenges by examining how societies have adapted to variability in the past (uncertainty in water supply, flood risk, etc) and considers the tools we have to manage future variability in river flows and sediment loads, including variability in water supplies, increased flood risk, and the existential threat to many coastal and riverine areas.
Schedules of past seminar programs are posted below.